USA > California > Imperial County > The history of Imperial County, California > Part 26
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The abundance of all-the-year-around forage and favorable weather
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conditions make this an ideal section for stock growing and dairying, particularly the latter, in which the Brawley district surpasses any other section of the Valley and the State of California. The Valley supplies Los Angeles with 20,000 pounds of butter daily, and if required could grow all of the live-stock necessary to sustain the southern half of the State. The profits of stock growing is enormous and that of dairying scarcely less. Of the total area of 320,000 acres of irrigated land in the Imperial Valley 100,000 is in alfalfa, 125,000 in milo maize and 50,000 in barley. The cotton acreage will not exceed 90,000.
Brawley is the shipping center of a producing area of 160,000 acres of the most productive land in the Imperial Valley, and aside from cot- ton is the producing center of the Valley.
In the volume of its vegetable products Brawley surpasses by far any other section of the Valley. Of the 4400 cars of cantaloupes shipped out last season almost 3000 were from Brawley district, and 2501 from Brawley station direct. The shipments of lettuce from the Valley this season aggregated about 385 cars, of which Brawley shipped 279 cars.
Little cause can be found for criticism of a climate that invariably matures a crop, and in some instances two and even three crops, and in a single season without failure. There are but two seasons-winter and summer, and not much of either, the two merging closely into each other. The temperature seldom drops below 30 degrees, and while it soars to 112 at times during the summer, this temperature is attended by no humidity and is not hurtful, the heat being equal to about 90 de- grees in the east. The rainfall is less than two inches annually and could be spared altogether.
The climate is especially beneficial to rheumatic and ashmatic pa- tients, in many cases effecting a radical cure of both within six months. No malarial or other antagonistic element has ever been recorded here. Children are rugged and healthy and the prevailing standard of public health is far above the average.
Including a magnificent $70,000 high school building, a grammar school building recently erected at a cost of $35,000, a splendid manual training system, three lesser school buildings and a parochial school, with a large attendance and perfect equipment, no city in any State has better schools nor a more capable educational staff for every branch of modern education, from the kindergarten to the advanced system.
CHAPTER XXIII
HOLTVILLE
BY JOHN BAKER
THIS picturesque little city built from the cactus and mesquite and desert soil into one of the most beautiful of the lovely towns fringing the Western Valley of the Nile, is one of the most prosperous and at- tractive of Imperial Valley, and very properly entitled to its cognomen, "The Gem City."
Holtville was given its charter in 1903, and since that time the growth has been steady, and the residents who have come to this es- pecially rich and fertile section of the great desert country are now more than reaping the results that always follow the arduous workings and efforts of the pioneer. Only fifteen years old, this beautiful town is forging ahead, and paved, well lighted streets will be the culmination of the Commercial Club's dream and efforts in the very near future. It is generally conceded that Holtville is the prettiest town of the many that have made the great Imperial Valley famous throughout the United States and the world. This great beauty is due to the many trees that border the streets; giant palms, peppers and cottonwood trees making most grateful shade and relief from the glare of the summer sun.
Situated at the eastern boundary of the Valley, with a population now reaching considerably over the fifteen hundred mark, Holtville is now among the foremost dairying sections in the world. Alfalfa ranches are everywhere testifying to the great fertility and productive- ness of the hundred thousand acres or more, which are tributary to the town. Not only have cattle and dairying industries formed an impor- tant factor in the growth of this particular locality and the calling in of many of the most expert ranchers of the east and middle west, but hog raising, which is one of the most profitable industries in the world today, and at this writing one of the most timely, has reached the pin- nacle of its development here. And in this connection it is only fitting that mention should be made of the wonderful work that is being ac-
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complished by the pupils of the high school and the grammar schools of Holtville under the careful guidance of their teachers in the building up of Pig Clubs. These clubs have stimulated lavishly the interest in raising of pigs and hogs by the sons and daughters of the ranchers, and some exceptional results have been obtained by these embryo farmers and farm-women.
In the cattle raising industry, one of the great commercial features that has placed this city in the front ranks is the production of butter. A large percentage of the most successful farmers of this section can trace their rise to the first string of cows with which they started out in the dairying business. The wonderful creamery which was estab- lished in Holtville a few years ago, and which has been added to and improved as conditions warranted, is pointed to with pride by every person showing the prospective resident about the country. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of butter are shipped monthly from this district, and the average daily output of butter alone from the Holtville Co-op- erative Creamery is over three thousand pounds. Scientific cattle rais- ing, which implies the raising of the best stocks, and the culling of all unprofitable "boarders from among the strings," has resulted in dairy- ing and cattle raising reaching a marvelous point of success here.
The agricultural survey is developed to a point quite as successful as are the other branches of the farming industry in the Imperial Val- ley. Wonderful crops of asparagus, okra, lettuce, spinach, and all sorts of garden truck are grown here, and one of the local men claims to have made a thousand dollars an acre from the growing of cucumbers sent out to meet the demand of an early and epicurean eastern market. These cucumbers are also sent to the northern part of the state, and tomatoes are another delicacy that delights the palate of the epicurean sent out from this vicinity as early as the first of February.
At the present time Holtville is experiencing an unusual boom, ow- ing, probably, to the likelihood of the opening at a near distant date of the wonder lands on the east side mesa, which are regarded as the most favored, naturally, of any lands in the whole Imperial Valley. The open- ing of this vast and fertile section will mean the ingress of hundreds of wide-awake, progressive ranchers from all parts of the United States, and will result in a phenomenal growth of the city itself, which is the logical shopping district for the entire east side. The growing of
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cotton has been marvelously successful during the past three years. It is now past the experimental stage entirely, and great profits have been attained by those who have taken a chance on this industry. There are several cotton gins here, and the building of a co-operative gin this year is one of the projects that is already financed by some of the most substantial farmers here. The wonderful fertility of the soil permits of crops more varied than in any other section of the world, and among the other profitable crops grown must be placed the different grains, and corn. Great quantities of corn are raised here, and are always sure of a ready market, on account of the hog industry particularly. The day of the large land holder has steadily been on the wane, and today Holtville owes much of the steady growth of its prosperity to the fact that land holders are now possessors usually of less than two hundred acres at the most, which results in better business for the town's trades- people, and in better results to the rancher who is no longer burdened with more land than he can successfully cultivate.
Holtville itself is one of the most progressive cities to be found in an agricultural district anywhere. The churches and the schools are a credit to her enterprise. The schools are looked upon with amaze- ment by the newcomers and visitors, who express surprise that schools are established here that rank favorably with schools anywhere else in the state, under the most capable supervision and instruction, and that they are accredited to all of the universities. Holtville is likely prouder of its school system which is regarded as one of the most perfeect in the southern part of the state than of any other feature of its civic life.
Of the churches it may be said that there are six, of as many denom- inations, all seemingly prosperous and flourishing.
There are a number of clubs and fraternal organizations in the city and a woman's club, which is distinguished for its public-spiritedness and its interest in every project of civic betterment. A woman's club house will likely be considered before a great while, and when com- pleted will fill an important need.
The City Hall is an institution of which Holtville is inordinately proud. It stands on record as being the only building of its kind erected solely by public subscription in the United States. It is a handsome structure of mission style, and reflects the greatest possible credit on the liberality of the citizens who made such a building possible. In this
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work the woman's club took a prominent part in the securing of funds and much of the credit for the work belongs to their enterprise and perseverance.
The latest step along the lines of progress has been the voting of bonds for sewer outputs and paving. The latter means one of the most necessary and important movements that the citizens have ever taken up ; it will result in increased prosperity and immeasurable satisfaction.
There are two flourishing banks in Holtville-the First National and the Holtville Bank, of which the latter is the newer, and which is gain- ing steadily in public favor.
The shopping district of Holtville, while small, is comprehensive, and the new resident on nearby ranches and farms finds himself un- usually favored in the matter of purchasing supplies and equipment of all kinds. Within the last year a decided impetus has been given shop- ping of all kinds, and among the most important enterprises in the town are its hardware stores where farm equipment and specialties of all kinds may be procured as easily and satisfactorily as in metropoli- tan cities. The housewife finds all her needs to have been anticipated at the stores which are exceptional and which are constantly improv- ing and going ahead.
An artesian water belt running through the eastern part of the Val- ley makes it possible for farmers to sink wells and find plenty of good water for drinking and household purposes at a depth of only a few hundred feet, which is likely to vary in different localities. This is the only belt of artesian water in the whole Valley, and is an added point in which Nature has smiled upon this particular section of the country. In this connection one thinks of the Natatorium, which is the only thing of the kind in the whole Valley, and the place where hundreds of bath- ers gather all during the summer from points all over the Valley for cooling dips and frolics in the cooling waters. Last year the Natatorium had the most successful run in its history, and this year will likely double its popularity, as it is to be again under the same management.
In many respects Holtville is in a class entirely by itself. It is slightly below sea level, but when sleeping in a second story chamber one rests entirely above sea level. The city is particularly and peculiarly health- ful, and but very little illness is ever manifested here. In fact much of its population can be directly traced to the reputation it bears for
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health fulness which is a fine thing for the town, but a poor field for members of the medical fraternity.
When the great southern National Highway is completed Holtville will be the first point of entry to the tourists and homeseekers who will be lured hither. Combine this project with the opening of the great east side mesa, and it would appear to the most skeptical that Holt- ville's future was doubly assured. Its progressiveness has only started. Beautified with thousands and thousands of trees that make for com- fort and coolness, with an incomparable reputation for healthfulness, with exceptional school facilities, with crop prospects that cannot be discounted in any corner of the globe, with shipping facilities, and commercial equipments of the best, the "Gem" city bids fair to become in a few short years the most important, as well as the most prosperous of all the towns in the Valley.
As is true of every town of the Valley, society has not developed to any appreciable degree of exclusion. As in all new countries, per- sons are accepted for their character, and not for their other attain- ments. Ability to pioneer marks the stepping stone of those who occupy prominent places in the happy social atmosphere of a community that is not circumscribed and hedged with social conventions that must of necessity exist in larger and older localities.
Summed up, we find that Holtville's claim to popularity and distinc- tion is gained from the enterprise of its farmers and ranchers, from its schools, from the great fertility of the soil of the surrounding thou- sands and thousands of acres, from which crops may be derived more easily than from any other land in the world. It is derived from a spirit of co-operation among its citizens and townspeople that is not only commendable but tremendously unusual. Its activities are as varied as could be in any community with its creameries, cotton gins, its cattle and hog shipping, and its marvelous crops. Besides the municipal attain- ments that have been accomplished from time to time, with a reputa- tion for health that is unparalleled, Holtville must, by virtue of its re- markable natural possessions, be destined to become one of the largest and most prosperous cities of the great Imperial Valley. Its citizens alive to the future and the possibilities that future will offer are work- ing in a harmony of purpose and largeness of motive that presages a wonderful prosperity for Holtville in the future as in the past.
CHAPTER XXIV
EL CENTRO
BY EDGAR F. HOWE
ONE can understand how the few cities of the ancient world attained individualism that marked them for all time, and he can understand how a few modern cities simply by the exhibit of bulk can be conspicu- ous in world affairs. But can a little city of modern days attain an in- dividualism without eccentricity ?
There is reason to believe that this is being done by El Centro, and that almost without conscious endeavor by the populace. It is the cap- ital, political and commercial, of the first country that has developed during the automobile age, and it is not strange that this modern vehi- cle, which has made the farmer a score of miles away a near neighbor, is working out here something different from that wrought elsewhere during the slow days of the lumber wagon and spring buggy.
As this is written there are ten towns in Imperial Valley, and before this book shall have ceased to be a work of reference in libraries the number may be expected to increase a hundred fold. These towns now and the invisible cities of the future like them circle about El Centro, all within an hour's drive by automobile, and we cannot doubt that what has proved universal elsewhere on earth will prove inevitable here, and that as time goes on that which is the metropolis now will become more metropolitan, and this without detracting from the fine attain- ments of the other towns of the Valley.
El Centro was not one of the original towns of the Valley. It sprang up later and avoided some of the mistakes that had been made else- where. The towns of the earlier pioneer days had started with the flim- sy architecture adapted to the needs of the time, and while they were able to get away from that in time, El Centro from the first had the ad- vantage of being cleanly built to meet the later requirements.
W. T. Bill as head of the El Centro Townsite Company filed the plat of the town in 1905. He was closely affiliated with W. F. Holt, who al-
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ready was taking his position as the chief promoter of public utility corporations of this section. Through the initiative of the latter, the Holton Interurban Railroad was built from El Centro to Holtville, electric power and ice plants were installed, followed later by a gas plant, these institutions severally serving all or a good portion of the Valley from this town, and still later the interurban road was extended westwardly to become a part of the San Diego and Arizona Railroad.
Mr. Holt also became the promoter of the first bank, and he and others began the erection of business buildings of a superior type for a town of tender years.
Imperial, in some of its better buildings, had set the pattern of ar- cades, and this type of structure, so splendidly adapted to a hot climate, became the universal type here and was passed on to the other towns of the Valley.
Full blocks of the arcade buildings, so much more sightly than the ir- regular and ragged looking awnings of other towns, makes a fine im- pression on the stranger, and gives a ship-shapeness to the general ap- pearance that has set a standard for other affairs of the community.
In the course of time there came the period of street paving, during which all the business streets and the main avenues leading to the boun- daries of the city were rendered among the finest roadways to be found, and dust and mud ceased to be elements to contend with.
The primitive sewer system of the earliest days gave way in 1916 to an outfall sewer built in co-operation with Imperial, which extends through the latter town and thence to the northwest, where it empties into New River.
Only second in importance from the standpoint of sanitation is the filtration plant under construction at this time (spring of 1918), for the purification of water used for all purposes.
From the first, El Centro has taken a high position in the institutions that promote civilization. Its schools, churches and press have been of high standard, and they have had difficult work to accomplish because of the complexities of habits and ideals of its extremely cosmopolitan population. Natives of the northern and southern States are pretty evenly balanced, and these may be said to be the basic strata of the population. Overlying these, as next in period of arrival, is an extensive Swiss population, the individuals having been drawn from their native
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EL CENTRO
land by the great opportunities discovered in the dairy industry. They are a frugal, industrious people and are meeting with a high degree of success.
The next class to come in considerable numbers were colored people from the cotton States of the South. Among the colored people are a number of considerable intellectual attainment, and then there are some others. Schools and churches are affording the people of this race an opportunity and encouragement to attain higher development, and in this the general white sentiment is sympathetic and desirous of being helpful.
El Centro has not acquired a large Japanese population, many more East Indians, Mohammedans and Hindus being seen on the streets. These people are not residents of the town, however, being wholly rural in their habits.
In manufacturing lines there are the power interests, the extensive ice plant, the largest and most modern creamery west of the Missouri River, several gins and a cottonseed oil mill, and a beginning is being made this year on a large project looking to the dehydrating and can- ning of fruits and vegetables.
El Centro is distinctively a commercial and residence town. Its hotel accommodations far outrank the typical small city. The homes of the people are modern bungalows, a few with considerable indication of wealth and refinement. Numerous extensive farmers, having property at distant points in the Valley, have chosen this as their home. The stores of the town carry extensive stocks, and during trading hours the streets are lined with rows of automobiles that at times are so numerous as to render traffic difficult, these machines having brought customers from all parts of the Valley.
El Centro is a city with an eye distinctively to the future and with faith in the future. Its present 7500 population look confidently to a rapid multiplication of their numbers through the expansion of indus- tries and the broadening of genuine opportunities.
HOLTON POWER COMPANY
In connection with his other interests in the Valley, Mr. W. F. Holt organized the Holton Power Company for the purpose of serving the cities and towns of the Valley with electrical energy and ice. The com-
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
pany was incorporated September 16, 1903, under the laws of Califor- nia, for a period of fifty years. The principal place of business of the company from the date of its incorporation until May, 1916, was at Redlands, California.
The original capitalization was $500,000.00 stock in shares of $100.00 each. The capital stock was increased on June 15, 1905, to $1,000,000- .00 to provide additional capital for improvements and extensions, and on July 18, 1911, to care for the further expansion of the business, was again increased to $1,500,000.00. At present there is issued and out- standing a total of $1,250,000.00. The company also has, issued and out- standing, a total of $937,000.00 in bonds. Owing to the wide extent of territory served and the sparse population as compared to older and more thickly settled sections, the company, during the development pe- riod of the Valley, has been under the necessity of making very heavy investments of capital, an adequate return on which is assured only after a long period of time, when the Valley becomes more fully de- veloped.
The company serves the cities and towns of El Centro, Imperial, Brawley, Calexico, Calipatria and Holtville, as well as contiguous and intermediate territory. The company serves at present approximately 3500 customers ; it maintains a central office at El Centro in charge of a district manager.
The Holton Power Company owns and operates two hydro-electric power plants at Holtville, with a capacity of 1500 kilowatts, a steam generating plant at El Centro with a capacity of 250 kilowatts, and a gas electric generating plant (also located at El Centro) with a capa- city of 750 kilowatts. The company has a total mileage of transmission and distribution lines in the Imperial Valley of 165 miles.
In the early part of 1916, owing to the necessity of providing in- creased generating capacity for the more adequate service of the public, Mr. Holt disposed of his interests in the company to the same interests controlling The Southern Sierras Power Company and other large hy- dro generating companies operating in the central part of the State, physical connection with the Southern Sierras system having been es- tablished by the construction of a transmission line from San Bernar- dino to El Centro in 1914. Upon the change in ownership the general offices were removed from Redlands to Riverside.
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The present officers of the company are as follows: President and general manager, A. B. West ; vice-president, W. F. Holt ; treasurer, A. S. Cooper ; secretary, W. G. Driver.
COACHELLA VALLEY ICE AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
In 1914, owing to the increased demand for electricity in the Imperial Valley, it became imperative for the Holton Power Company either to increase its generating capacity, by the construction of new generating plants in the Valley, or else connect with other companies who had a surplus of power to sell. The latter plan was decided to be most feasible and accordingly the Coachella Valley Ice and Electric Company was organized for the purpose of constructing and operating a transmission line extending from San Bernardino to El Centro, which served to in- ter-connect the system of The Southern Sierras Power Company with that of the Holton Power Company. The Coachella Company at present owns and operates about 150 miles of transmission line.
The Coachella Valley Company, in addition to supplying current at wholesale to the Holton Power Company, also serves the public in the Coachella Valley, and furnishes electricity for the operation of the silt dredges of the Imperial Irrigation District at Hanlon's Heading, on the Colorado River, about 2400 horse-power being supplied for this purpose at the Heading.
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